Tokyo Day3

Today we had plans to visit the other side of Tokyo.

We decided to go check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Building first as there is two free lookouts there. This is a great place for tourists, the fact that its free is even better!

We visited both the north and south towers as each one gives a different view of the city.

Its mind boggling to see how big Tokyo actually is from the observatory. It just seems to keep going and going....and going. Although we had a clear day it was still a little cloudy in the distance so unfortunately Mount Fuji was too hard to see.

Next we were off to Ueno station on the Yamanote Line to visit the Ameyoko Markets.

Once at Ueno we made our way out of the station and down under the railway lines where we saw a very different market scene. This was more like your average asian market, lots of cheap bags, clothes, shoes and local produce. There wasnt a great deal of interest to us here as we were on the lookout for traditional gifts. As it was nearly lunch time now we ducked into an old Ramen Restaurant where we ordered a lovely pork ramen.

We soon moved on from Ueno and made our way to the "old Tokyo" area of Asakusa.

Although very much in the city this area has kept a very traditional feel to it, kind of similar to Kyoto in some ways. As soon as we got out of the station we stumbled across the entrance to the Senso-Ji Temple. This was exactly why we decided to visit Asakusa.

We grabbed a few pics under the giant lanterns and made our way down the souvenir shop lined Nakamise-dori. Here we did some great shopping, picking up many gifts for the family back home. Sake sets, tea sets, maneki neko and a traditional Katana Sword was part of our shopping list. We were also lucky enough to pickup some real Ukiyo-e prints which are amazing! We also sampled the famous ningyoyaki! they were delicious and cute :)

We couldnt visit the Senso-Ji temple without getting amongst the traditional rituals now could we. We both partook in the traditional hand/mouth rinsing and getting amongst the incense burning. We were very lucky to have these traditions explained to us by our friends whilst in Kyoto so it all made sense when in Senso-ji.

After our time in Senso-ji we decided to grab something to eat. There was a few restaurants i had on a must eat list in Tokyo and lucky for us one of them was right next to the Nakamise street. Tenya Tempura is a cheaper (but very good) tempura chain in Japan. The set i ordered was amazing and for the price (about $8 aus) how can you go wrong.

Next we decided to scrap our plans of visiting Akihabara and head straight back to the hotel.

We just had too many bags after our shopping spree. We jumped back on the Yamanote and after 1/2 hour were back in Shinjuku. We raced up to our hotel, grabbed a cold drink from the vender room and shot back over to the station.

Next we were off to Akabanebashi Station where we would view the magnifient Tokyo Tower. We had timed it perfectly as we were able to see the tower up close in the last bit of daylight and then under the cover of night. To see the tower from a distance is amazing but to see it up close is unreal, its soooo big!!! Once the tower is lit up the view is spectacular!

Although we have eaten some amazing food in Japan there are many things we have missed out on trying. Unfortunately you would need to spend a couple of months here to sample everything on offer. One food that we just had to have though was yakitori, and what better place to have it than Shomben Yokocho (aka: piss alley), this is a traditional old school yakitori alleyway under the train tracks in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district. This was one of the best experiences we had in Japan, the smoke and aromas wafting through the alleyway painted a picture that we had gone back in time. We were welcomed into a very tight bar where the chef cooked yakitori over an open fire. I immediately ordered a cold beer and we were presented with a fresh bowl of edamame as we settled into the great atmosphere.

We opted for a traditional yakitori set which comprised of chicken, pork and vegetable skewers.

Speaking to the lovely couple who ran the restaurant they told us that plain salt was the traditional Japanese way to eat Yakitori so I had to go with that, Sarah opted for the more western style of Yakitori which is covered in tare sauce.

We mowed through the first set as it was sooo nice!!! man how do i work out which is the best food we have eaten..... it just keeps getting better, or maybe its just because were eating it we say that lol. No seriously the food in Japan is the best ever, I cant imagine anywhere in the world would come close!!

As we finished the first set we decided to order a few extra sticks,

we opted for the chicken skin, small eggs, whole garlic and cocktail frankfurts

I sank another couple of beers and was very relaxed, perhaps a little too relaxed lol

Once finished dinner we had a wander around the Kabukicho district (so called red light area) and then checked out a few big electronic stores before heading back to the hotel via family mart where Sarah picked up a Crepe filled with Ice cream - looked delicious and tasted even better she says!